To Help Develop the Mind and Body

There is an inspirational documentary of Naoki Eiga sensei produced by NHK in 2003 [Eiga_Documentary]. In the video, he reflects on the reason behind his initial loss toMasahiro Miyazaki sensei in the 1999 All-Japan quarter-finals and his subsequent win in a rematch in the 2000 All-Japan finals. In those parts, he and the narrator mention the term mushin-no-waza a number of times – in addition to how the state of mind and attachments can affect the ability to manifest such a waza. Mushin-no-waza could be translated as techniques arising naturally and instinctively – from an empty mind or flow state. I heartily recommend watching the video.

Here’s a few quotes of his assessment of the above two matches and on mushin-no-waza from the English version of the documentary. In a few places, my interpretation of the Japanese words differs somewhat from the English translation in the video. In those instances, I have included an additional translation (in red font) and a transcription of his original words or the narrator’s in Japanese.

“What happened?” I asked myself. I practiced my ‘do’ counter to Miyazaki’s famous men strike. Lured him in and struck. And yet he beat me with a decisive men. It wasn’t that he was expecting my ‘do’ counter, but in that decisive moment, he moved in with a clear mind and total commitment. My own move was calculated and considered. That was the difference. . . .

I was totally obsessed with winning. And because of that, I couldn’t move instinctively. I was blocking my own instincts – holding them back.

My translation:

I was totally fixated on (the aspect of) only winning or losing the match. Despite wanting mushin-no-waza (waza from mushin) in such a condition, naturally, it doesn’t come out.*

* To confirm my translation of this quote which seems to differ quite a bit from the video translation, this separate article in Japanese [AlchemyOfAthletes] expresses Eiga sensei‘s words in line with my translation albeit more simply: As long as the focus is only on winning and losing a match, this thing called mushin-no-waza will not come out.「ただ単に勝ち負けにこだわっているかぎり、『無心の技』というものは出ない」